Historic Functions categories Domestic/single dwelling · 2019. 2. 14. · (Form 1 0-900a). Type all entries. historic name other names/site number 2. street & number See C on t i

NPS Fotm 10-900 (Rev. 8-2~3/

OMB No. 1024-0018

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 1 0-900a). Type all entries.

historic name other names/site number

2. street & number See C on t i n u at i on S he e t N not for publication city, town 0 x f o r d vicinity state North Car o 1 i n a code N C county Gran vi 1 1 e

N code 0 7 7 zip code 2 7 5 6 5

3. Classification Ownership of Property

[iJ private [X] public-local D public-State [X] public-Federal

Category of Property

D building(s) EJ district Dsite D structure Oobject

Name of related multiple property listing: Hi s tori c and Architectural Resources of Granville C o u n ts' , ~~~ r t h C a r o l i ~ a

4.tate/ederal Agency ertification

Number of Resources within Property

Contributing Noncontributing 202 41 buildings

1 sites

205

___ structures ___ objects

41 Total Number of contributing resources previously

listed in the National Register -----=1=---------

As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ~nomination D request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Regi ter of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my the e y does not meet the National Register criteria. D See continuation sheet."

!·2q~Kf Signature of certifying otficia Date

State Historic Preservation Officer State or Federal agency and bureau

In my opinion, the property D meets D does not meet the National Register criteria. D See continuation sheet.

Signature of commenting or other official

State or Federal agency and bureau

5. National Park Service Certification I, hereby, certify that this property is:

D entered in the National Register. D See continuation sheet.

D determined eligible for the National Register. D See continuation sheet.

D determined not eligible for the National Register.

D removed from the National Register. Dother, (explain:) ________ _

Date

Signature of the Keeper Date of Action

NF> Form 10-000-a (l'r-88)

U Department National Park Service

Section number -- Page __ 1 __

STREET & NUMBER:

LOCATION

101-711 College Street New College Street (unnumbered former industrial property) 301-310, 401, 405 Broad Street 402, 417 Goshen Street 204-220 Cherry Street West Street (unnumbered industrial properties) 104-114 Rectory Street 115-117, 123 West McClanahan Street 121-202 East McClanahan Street Watkins Street (unnumbered former industrial properties) 109,119 Hillsboro Street 103-129 Williamsboro Street Court Street (unnumbered) 107-120 Littlejohn Street 101-316 Main Street 118-309 Gilliam Street 300-315 Raleigh Street 104-115 East Spring Street 104-303 High Street 101-132 West Front Street 100-209 East Front Street 402 Coggeshall Street

OMB Approval No. 1024-0:·:a

Historic Functions categories

Domestic/single dwelling Commerce/speciality store Commerce/financial institution Industr /manufacturin facilit

See Continuation Sheet) 7. Description Architectural Classification (enter categories from instructions)

Colonial Revival Queen Anne Italianate

(See Continuation Sheet)

Describe present and historic physical appearance.


Current Functions (enter categories from instructions)

Domestic/single dwelling Commerce/speciality store Commerce/financial institution Industry/manufacturing facility


Materials (enter categories from instructions)

foundation ---=b:.....:r~l.!_. =c ~k ___________ _ walls we a t h e r b o a r d

brick roof a s p h a 1 t other W 0 0 d


IT] See continuation sheet

~WS i'orm 10-0CQ-a (&-&5)

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service

OMB Approva, No. 1C·2+-0:'i8

Section nunlber ___ Ei___ Page __ 1 __ FUNCTION OR USE

HISTORIC FUNCTIONS:

Government/courthouse Religion/religious structures

CURRENT FUNCTIONS:

Government/courthouse Religion/religious structures

SECTION Nu~BER 7 PAGE 1 DESCRIPTION

ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION:

.Dungal.ow Gr .:.:·ek Re\rival. Got:hic ·Revival pt.her; Functional Other: Ranch Neo-Classical Revival Second Empire Other: ·Georgian/Federal Stick/Eastlake Romanesque Other: Period Revival

MATERIALS:

Foundation stone Walls ------- other·brick veneer

stone Roof -------- slate

tin stone

Other ------- brick stone

NPS Forrn 1 0-9

NPS Forrn 1 0-000-a (B-88)

U Department of National Park Service

Section number __ 7 __ Page __ 2 __

OMB Approval No. 1024-0018

Eastlake and Second Empire - style buildings raised within the district. (The terms "Romantic" and "Victorian," as well as the term "Eclectic" below, are used here, as in Virginia and Lee McAlester's A Field Guide to American Houses, in a generalized sense to encompass a variety of styles from the latter third of the nineteenth and first third of the twentieth centuries.)

Building activity apparently slackened during the hard times of the 1890s, but picked up again during the first decade of the twentieth century and continued apace until the Great Depression. Between 1900 and 1930 numerous Eclectic style dwellings -primarily either Colonial Revival or Neo-Classical in style were built throughout the district, most of which still stand. Non-residential buildings made use of these two popular classical styles and the Beaux Arts and later Moderne styles as well. Little was built in the district and the town during the 1930s and the years from the end of the Depression to the present have also seen 1 i ttle further cons true t ion within the district. The non-contributing buildings erected during these years are primarily small, minimally adorned, Colonial Revival and ranch style houses.

Two Georgian/Federal style properties stand within the bounds of the district, the Bryant-Kingsbury House at 417 Goshen Street [#59] and the Taylor-McClanahan-Smith House at 203 College Street [ #27]. Built by J. H. Bryant around 1825, the Bryant-Kingsbury House is probably the oldest property in Oxford. A striking seven-bay, T-shaped, Georgian/Federal style dwelling, it retains most of its exceptional original finish, in spite of its move from the northern head of Main Street in 1910. Applied Gothic tracery unique in the county runs the length of its cornice and projecting front triangular pediment. Reeded posts rise from the molded sills of its openings to decorative capitals and molded cornices. The architraves atop these openings are adorned with carved rosettes and applied bands of connected, interlocking rings. The interior also retains much original finish, including raised six-panel doors, three-part surrounds and flush-sheathed and flat-paneled wainscoting; some Colonial Revival style decorative changes were made in 1910.

Probably built by Dr. William W. Taylor, also in the 1820s, the two-story, five-bay, heavy timber frame Taylor-McClanahan-Smith House is the oldest property within Oxford's original

NPS Ftxm 10-000-a (8-&l)

OMB ApprovtJ.J No. 1024--0018

u National Park Service

Section number __ 7 __ Page _3 __

limits still located on its original lot. It was initially a two-room deep, side-hall plan dwelling, the back to back chambers opening to the north of its hall served by two Flemish bond chimneys. These two rooms retain their Federal style mantels, flush-paneled wainscoting and gently raised, six-panel doors set in transitional Georgian/Federal style three-part surrounds. The dwelling was expanded and converted to a center-hall plan not long after its construction and further late nineteenth and early twentieth century additions have brought it to its present handsome appearance.

Sixteen Greek Revival style dwellings survive in Oxford most located within the district suggesting the vitality in both the town and the county of the quarter century preceed ing the Civil War. At least eleven residential and institutional properties, built all or in part during those years, stand within the district. Two are brick governmental buildings - the Granville County Courthouse at 101 Main Street and the former Granville County Jail to its rear on Court Street - and nine are frame dwellings. All but one - the two-story, double-pile, center-hall plan Abner N. Jones House [#39] at 419 College Street -are located in the southern half of the district, below Hillsboro and Williamsboro streets.

The two-story, T-shaped Granville County Courthouse [#96], the front block of which was raised .between 1838 and 1840, is one of the most imposing antebellum buildings in the county and one of the finest antebellum courthouses in the state. Built of rich red bricks laid in Flemish bond, and topped by a prominent cupola ringed with slender columns, the Greek Revival style building has been in continual· use as a courthouse since its construction. Slightly altered in the late nineteenth century, and extended and altered in 1938, it still retains many of its original features. These include its cupola, two winding vestibule stairs, and a massive front door formed of three decorated and paneled, hinged leaves. The building is to be restored in 1987.

The former Granville County Jail [#91], now the home of the Granville County Museum, is solidly and simply finished. A square, two-story, brick structure, it was built following an 1858 fire that destroyed its predecessor. Its minimal ornamentation is restricted to its former front elevation, which is marked by heavy raised pilasters, an iron door, and barred windows topped by projecting keystones.

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86)


Un National Park Service

Section number __ 7_ Page __ 4_

The surviving antebellum residences in the district are also Greek Revival in style, though a few show traces of the Gothic Revival style. As with every other antebellum dwelling in the county, but for Rose Hill on the Virginia border, they are built of heavy timbers - mortised, tenoned and pegged together - and sheathed in weatherboards. All of the dwellings 9-re topped by low hipped roofs except the two-story, gable roofed; Betts-Taylor House [#173] at 114 High Street. And all but the former Oxford Methodist Church [#167] at 114 East Spring Street are symmetrical, two-story, center-hall plan structures. (The former church was moved to its present location from the southwest corner of Sycamore and Main streets late in the nineteenth century and converted into a one-story tall residence.)

The center-hall plan was to remain in use after the Civil War and into the early twentieth century. It is represented at simply finished I-houses in the district like the Greek Revival influenced Oxford Women's Club [#146], which was built as a dwelling around 1850 at the northwest corner of Spring and Main streets; the Italianate influenced Sarah Hall House [#129], built in the 1880s at 224 Main Street; and the Colonial Revival influenced Grover Yancy House [ #177], raised at 128 West Front Street in 1913.

The Greek Revival style dwellings in the district are similar in form and finish to their contemporaries elsewhere in the town and county. Though no more grandly finished, the district's survivors are on the large end of the scale for county ante b e 11 urn d we 11 in g s . The Marc e 11 us V . La n i e r Ho us e [ # 1 5 2 ] at 220 Gilliam Street is a two-story, L-shaped dwelling built by attorney Lanier in the late 1840s or early 1850s. Its center-hall plan front block and rear wing share beaded weatherboards, crossetted surrounds, entries framed by sidelights and transoms, and original porches dominated by square, tapered, fluted columns. Inside, two-panel doors serve the upstairs, downstairs and even basement rooms. Post and lintel mantels and fluted surrounds with bull' s-eye cornerblocks enframe the openings of all of the downstairs rooms but the front parlor, which is finished with fluted, crossetted surrounds. The Kingsbury-Bryan House [#169] to the east at 303 High Street, built in the 1840s by merchant Russell H. Kingsbury, is almost identically finished. Although not raised on a basement, it has a center-hall plan, two-story, front block and a two-story tall rear ell that gives

NPS Form 1(}-900-a (8-88)

OMB A;:;,rxoval No. 1024-0018



it an 1-shape. Its stair is located in the transverse, ell hall. A small outbuilding [#169a] standing in the rear yard appears to be contemporary with the house and is the only surviving pre-Civil War outbuilding in the district and one of only a few in the town. Probably originally a smokehouse, its pegged frame is sided with beaded weatherboards.

The residence in the district with the most striking antebellum detail is the Greek Revival style Titus Grandy House at 129 West Front Street [ #185], built by mercantilist Grandy, probably in the 1850s. The fluted, rounded columns of its front porch are the only nineteenth century examples in the county of a properly articulated Doric order. They are complemented by a unique, Gothic, sawn fringe at the house's roofline, and by interior chimneys, Gothic or Tudor in appearance, which are formed of three connected octagonal pots. (Two, rather than three, pots form the almost identical chimneys of the Archibald Taylor House, a contemporary plantation house standing outside the district less than a mile to the south on Raleigh Street. Similar chimneys also adorned the no longer extant, eighteenth century dwelling of Samuel Benton, the town's founder, which stood on East McClanahan Street just outside the eastern edge of the district.) An unusual facade width, rather than unusual decorative features, marks the Kingsbury-Young-Yancey House [#163] at 111 East Spring Street. Built by Oxford merchant Russell Kingsbury, the cousin of Russell H. Kingsbury, in the late 1840s or early 1850s, the center-hall plan house has a five-bay wide front facade, an unusual feature in a town and county where three-bay facades were the mid-nineteenth century rule.

With the exception of minor decorative motifs, such as the trim of the Bryant-Kingsbury House and the chimneys of the Grandy House, the pre-Civil War use of the Gothic Revival style in the district survives only in photographs or renderings of two exceptional, razed buildings the Oxford Presbyteria·n Church, built circa 1830, and the main building of St. John's College. Mary Anderson Duty of Oxford painted a watercolor of the church prior to 1847 which, in its fine attention to detail, is probably an accurate rendering of the structure. Preceeding the present church at 121 Gilliam Street, this smaller structure was one-story tall and rectangular. Gothic Revival in style, it had pointed- arched openings at its Fl ern ish bond brick walls and a two-story front tower.

NPS Form 10-90()-.a (8-&l)

United Department National Park Service


OMB Approvlll No. 1024-c•JJB

St. John's College - established by North Carolina's Masons in Oxford in the mid-1850s as a school for poor boys and, since 1873, the site of the masonic Oxford Orphanage - was the finest and most architecturally significant building known to have been built in Oxford and Granville County. Completed within three years of the 1855 laying of its cornerstone, the Gothic Revival style, brick structure was designed and built by prbminent North Carolina architects Jacob Holt and John Berry. It stood four stoiies tall, with a central square tower, two octagonal towers, and ornamental drip moldings and pointed arches. It was razed and replaced in the mid-1950s and few buildings survive on the extensive orphanage grounds that were erected prior to that decade. Included within the district are the orphanage's brick entryway, built in 1931 and a dwelling built in the late 1910s at the corner of College Street and Forest Avenue to house the superintendant.

The Civil War had a stultifying effect on the development of the town and district, and not until the 1880s did building activity fully recover. During that decade, and to a lesser extent the decades on either side of it, numerous Romantic style buildings with Italianate finish were built. These buildings are particularly evident on the broad, tree-lined expanse of College Street, which retains some of the town's most notable Italianate dwellings and commercial buildings. Perhaps the premier street in the town in the late nineteenth century, it is still one of its most desirable locations.

Among the finer Italianate style residences in the district are the Col. Roger 0. Gregory and Edwards-Cannady houses on College Street, and the Mary Hunt Parker House on East Front Street. Col. Gregory's two-story, frame residence [#22] was built in the early 1880s at 414 College Street. Its handsome facade is decorated with crossetted surrounds and prominent brackets and stickwork. Its equally finely finished interior features plaster ceiling medallions and marbleized slate and in 1 aid mar b 1 e man t e 1 s . A form e r b r i c k k i t chen , now us e d as a garage, stands to its rear.

The Edwards- Cannady House [ #7] to the south at 200 College Street was built around the same time as Gregory's residence by Col. Leonidas Compton Edwards, an Oxford attorney. Bracketed, pedimented surrounds crown the windows of the two-story, frame,

NPS F.:xm 10-900-a (8--&l)

OMB Approval No. 1024--0018


Section number -~7- Page __ 7 __

L-plan dwelling. Brackets also support the overhanging eaves of the porch and main roof. Much of the original decoration of the interior has been recently res to red. The downstairs post and lintel mantels, which are incised with decorative patterns, ret a in the i r iron fire boxes and y e 11 ow t i 1 e s . Fluted co 1 urn n s and pilasters flank the wide opening between the parlor and the stair hall. And the stairs, which terminate at a heavily modeled newel post, retain their delicate balusters and scrolled ends. Edwards' law office [#8], a one-story frame structure finished in the same fashion as his dwelling, still stands on the lot, just to the house's north at 204 College Street. Originally located at the corner of College and McClanahan streets, it was shifted to its present location and converted to a residence early in the twentieth century.

The Mary Hunt Parker House [#204] at 202 East Front Street, built late in the nineteenth century, is unusual both for its full use of the Italianate style and for its masonry construction. In conformance with the stylistic demands of the Italianate, the brick is formed into a raised watertable and corner quoins, and lifted into segmental arches at the exterior openings of both its stories. Brackets decorate the roof, the front porch and the two-story portico, as well as one of the mantels. Along with the Matthew Loonam House, a modest, late nineteenth century, Italianate style house on Raleigh Street south of the district's border, and the Hundley-White House discussed below, the Parker House is one of only three surviving nineteenth century brick residences in the town.

Houses less aggressively Italianate in style are scattered throughout the district. They include the Chapman-Hummel House at 415 College Street, the Watkins-Harris House at 112 West Front Street and the Sarah Hall House at 224 Main Street. A. A. Chapman, owner of a local lumber company, built his two-story, L-plan, frame dwelling [#38] late in the nineteenth century. Its most noteworthy Italianate features are its segmental arched windows and its rnodillion block cornice. The Sarah Hall House [#], built around the same time, is also simply finished. A two-story, center-hall plan, frame dwelling, its openings are en framed by shallow, pointed-arched surrounds. The cottage of Dr. George S. Watkins [#182], built late in the nineteenth century to a height of only one-and-a-half stories, features a roof pierced by wall dormers adorned with neat crossetted surrounds.

NPS Form 10-900--a (B-88)


Section number-----'-- Page_8 __

OI.JB Approval No. 1024-{X)IB

The Italianate was the style of choice for the majority of the town's and district's surviving early commercial structures. So popular in the late nineteenth century, the style was siezed upon to rebuild the sections of Main, College and Hillsboro streets swept by fire in 1886 and 1887. Unlike the district's Italianate and other late nineteenth and early twentieth century residences, the commercial structures are without exception of masonry construction,. another product of the fires that swept away the frame buildings that had previously made up much of the town ' s downtown . Herndon B 1 o c k Number 2 [ # 2 4] at the north we s t corner of Hillsboro and College streets and the Hunt Building [#85] just to the east at 117 Williamsboro Street were both built of brick, two stories in height, shortly after the 1887 conflagration. The Italianate style is primarily represented at both store buildings at their cornices and raised, crossetted surrounds. The Lyon-Winston Building [#3] at 118 College Street, b u i 1 t around 1 9 1 1 , and it s n e i g h b or at 1 1 4 Co 11 e g e , the former Upchurch and Currin Store [#2] built in 1909, are two-story brick store buildings with quite ornate Italianate finishes that include rusticated pilasters and elaborately corbeled cornices.

The most elaborate of the Italianate commercial structures is the two-story,. brick, Granville Furniture Company building [#98] at 117 Main Street. Appearing on the first Sanborn Company fire insurance map of 1885, it was expanded between 1904 and 1909. Its ground floor facade has been modernized, but its upper elevation still retains ornamental brickwork unmatched in Oxford. Raised pilasters and semi-circular surrounds, topped by elaborately corbeled, projecting capitals, en frame its windows .. Molded tin covers its capitals and raised keystones. And a double course of elaborately corbeled brickwork forms its cornice.

The It a 1 ian ate s t y 1 e was a 1 so us e d , in very s t r i p p e d down fashion, at the former L. H. Currin-American Tobacco Company Prize House on New College Street [#50], which was probably raised by Currin in the 1880s. A one-story brick building with raised pilasters, it is one of the few surviving tobacco facilities in the district and town. John Meadows raised a three-and-a-half-story brick prize house [#58], which was later the centerpiece of the Imperial Tobacco Company's local facilities, around the same time at Broad and West streets. Simply finished with segmental arched windows, it is the tallest

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-88)


Section number __ 7_ Page __ 9 __

surviving nineteenth century building in the town.

OMB AppfovB.l No. 1024--0018

The Victorian style followed on the heels of and intermingled with the Italianate in the town and district in the latter two decades of the nineteenth century and the opening decade of the twentieth. (As mentioned above, the term "Victorian" is used generally here to encompass. the Second Empire, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque and Eastlake or Stick styles.) Its most popular express ion was the Queen Anne, though the earliest Victorian structure raised in the district was Second Empire in style.

The district's three Second Empire style dwellings- the only nineteenth century examples of the style in the county - are all among its oldest Victorian buildings. The former St. Stephen's Episcopal Church Rectory [#66] at 109 Rectory Street is the earliest known post~Civil War building in Oxford, having been erected on College Street just to the west in 1867. A two-story tall, frame, L-shaped structure with a flared, tin shingle, mansard roof, it was shifted on the church-owned lot to its present location and replaced by the present two-story, Colonial Revival style rectory [#16] in 1923.

The two-story tall, brick, Hundley-White House [#9], also known as The Villa, built by George Hundley in 1889 at 208 College Street, is the most elaborately finished example of the style in the district. It has not one mansard roof - the common hallmark of the style - but three; one tops the body of the residence, a second tops its centered, three-story front tower, and a third its rear kitchen ell. Slate sheaths the three roofs, large dormer windows piercing the main one. Another common element of the style is the use of medallions and brackets at the thin, square posts of the porch. The third of the district's Second Empire style dwellings is the Samuel M. Watkins House at 301 Main Street [#113]. A boxy frame dwelling built by a local tobacco warehouseman, it too is topped by slate shingles. If one includes the full story contained within the sloping walls of its mansard roof, it is the only nineteenth century dwelling in Oxford that rises three stories in height.

The district's numerous surviving Queen Anne style residences indicate that it was the most popular of the late nineteenth century styles in the town. First appearing in the 1880s, the Queen Anne remained popular into the first decade of

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-88)

U n Department National Park Service

Section number __ 7 _ Page __ 10_

OMB Apfxoval No. 1024-0018

the twentieth century, often accompanied by Colonial Revival style decorative features. Small, m ed i urn and large examples of the style were built in the district, the larger dwellings in particular reflecting the wealth and vibrancy of the time.

Do m e s , swag s , co 1 urn n s and a v a r i e t y o f o the r fan c i f u 1 decorative features adorn the frame, two- and- a- half-story tall, James M. Currin House [#168], Oxford's most ornate example of the style. Built by Currin, a buyer for the American Tobacco Company, at 213 High Street in 1884, the house is marked by the style's typical asymmetrical roofline, which is made even more picturesque than usual by the use of bright orange tiles. The same tiles also top the corner pavilions of the wraparound front porch and the exotic, onion-shaped, beswagged dome of the corner tower. The columns of the porch are matched by those of the transverse arch of the front hall and the Colonial Revival style mantPls. The ornate finish of the interior is most lush at the parlor mantel, which features pilasters, .colonettes, a carved overmantel and a central display shelf protected by leaded glass.

Oxford Cotton Mill president James L. Erwin built a fine, if slightly less ornate, Queen Anne style residence the Erwin-Baird House [#28] - at 209 College Street at the opening of the twentieth century. As is common with many of the district's Queen Anne residences, numerout? Colonial Revival style elements adorn the two-and-a-half-story frame house, both inside and out. Fluted columns support the porch, porte cochere and the mantels, while triangular pediments complete with Palladian windows face its cross-gabled roof. The most striking element of the house, however, is its pointed-roofed corner tower,. a hallmark of the style little seen·in the town. Along with the Currin and Erwin houses, the third house in the district to feature a corner tower is the Thomas Lanier House [#21]. Standing up the block from Erwin's house at 410 College Street, the two-story frame residence was built by the local attorney in 1900 with high pitched gables, a stepped-back facade and its fashionable, picturesque, domed tower.

A more modest, but still handsomely finished, Queen Anne dwelling is the Mary L. Hargrove House [#159] at 300 Raleigh Street. Built by Hargrove not long after 1890, the two-story, T-shaped, frame house is draped, at its eaves and front and side porches, with elaborate serpentine brackets. Adornment accompanying these fanciful brackets includes sunbursts of

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-88)

Un Department National Park Service

Section number _ _.:..7 __ Page _1_1_

Or'..IB Approval No. 1024-0018

stickwork at the gables, diamonds and long rectangular panes of glass at the windows, and a corbeled brick chimney rising through the roof. More modestly finished yet are the William A. Devin House [1/:175] at 204 High Street and its neighbor, the Lassiter-Mullins House [ #174] at 200 High Street. Devin was a prominent Oxford attorney, mayor and judge, who was appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1935.. His one-story, 'multi-gabled, frame cottage was raised late in the nineteenth century. It features neatly finished bays underscored by decorative aprons at its front and east side, and a simple Colonial Revival style porch. The contemporary Lassiter-Mull ins House to the west is also a small, one-story, frame cottage finished with simple late nineteenth century details.

The Queen Anne style, coupled with elements of the Gothic Revival, also informed two of the district's and town's most imposing churches, the Oxford Presbyterian Church [#135] at 121 Gilliam Street and the Oxford Methodist Church [#26] at 105 West McClanahan Street. (The only known non-ecclesiastical Gothic Revival style building erected in the district after the Civil War is the 1888, brick, former Oxford Opera House [ #90] at 122 Will iamsboro Street which has lost its towers and upper story, but retains two pointed-arched and traceried windows.) The Presbyterians dedicated their expansive cross-gabled church, which is flanked by a tall corner tower and a bay-front wing, in 1892. Built of brick, it is marked by pointed-arched, stained glass windows that are accented by raised brick lintels. While retaining the pointed-arch windows and the tower so dear to the ecclesiastical use of the Gothic Revival in the county, the Methodists' church of 1903 also made full use of the decorative possibilities of the Queen Anne. Heavy, raised, brick corbeling marks the church's towers, as well as its wall surfaces, window openings and even its chimneys. Slate shingles, laid in varied patterns, adorn its triangular pediments and multi-gabled roof, and incised poured stone blocks decorate its keystones.

The decorative Eastlake style that often accompanies the Queen Anne is found at two of the district's late nineteenth century residences. Its decorative features are displayed at their best at the two-and-a-half-story, frame, Thomas White Jr. House [#1 08] at 203 Main Street, erected for White in 1889 by Durham builder W. C. Bain. The house is a wonder of Eastlake ornament. Shingles, tongue-and-groove boards, weatherboards and German siding are laid in geometric patterns on its stepped-back

NPS Form 10-000-a (8-88)


Section number __ 7 __ Page _ 1_2_

OMB Approval No. 1024-I:.•JIS

facade. Numerous gables accented with iron crockets adorn its picturesque roofline. And a porch profusely decorated with spindles, medallions, brackets and turned balusters shades three of its four facades. Inside, its rich finish is equal to any other in the county. Massive, columned, wooden mantels - said to have been imported from England not long after the house 1 s construction plastered ceiling medallions, etched cranberry glass and a heavily modeled stairway are a few of the striking decorative features of its downstairs rooms. Only slightly less elaborately finished, its two upstairs front bed rooms feature black Italian marble mantels adorned with inlays, stencils, tiles and hand-painted landscape views. The two-and-a-half-story, frame, Hundley-Cannady House [#43] at 517 College Street is also

·a fine example of the style. Built in the 1880s, probably by John C .. and Henrietta Hundley, it is fancifully finished, its varied, bayed walls adorned with molded and incised boards laid i 11 g eo m e t r i c and chevron p a t t e r n s . L i k e Wh i t e 1 s h o us e , i t s wraparound porch and fine interior are finished with all manner of late nineteenth century carved and scrolled millwork.

Only two surviving Richardsonian Romanesque style buildings s t and in the t own and the d i s t r i c t , S t . S t e ph en 1 s E p i s c o p a 1 Church at 140 College Street and the former National Bank of Granville at 107 Williamsboro Street. (The turn of the century, former 1st National Bank of Oxford [#81] at 109 Hillsboro Street, which illustrations indicate once had a rusticated wall surface, has been stripped down to a more pristine, Beaux Arts style appearance.) The former National Bank of Granville [#84] is marked by round-arched openings and constructed, at its first floor, of roughly cut stone. It was erected in 1891. St. Stephen 1 s Episcopal Church [ #6] was begun five years later and cons ec rated in 1 902. The monumental, roughly cut stones that form the walls of its sanctuary and massive crenellated tower are a hallmark of the Richardson ian Romanesque style. The church also displays elements of the Shingle style - most noticeable at its broad sweeping slate roof - and the Gothic Revival - on display at its pointed-arched windows and at its interior, which is adorned with tracery, trefoils and pointed-arch motifs.

Building activity apparently lagged in the district and elsewhere in the town between 1890 and 1900, a decade during which the town's population dropped by almost a third, from 2907 to 2,059. Its rebound in the next three decades - which saw its

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-00)

U Department of National Park Service

Section nurnber __ 7_ Page __ 13_

OMB ApprovBl No. 1024-0018

population climb back to 3,018 in 1910 and to 3,606 and 4,101 in 1920 and 1930, respectively- is evidenced by the district's many Eclectic style buildings. The Eclectic style dwellings built between 1900 and 1920 in the district were largely Colonial or Neo-Classical Revival in style, combined with Queen Anne or bungalow style features at either end of the two decades. By the 1920s the dwellings built in the district primaril~.utilized the bungalow style, with an occasional Period Revival cottage raised prior to the stultifying years of the Depression. Additional early twentieth century Eclectic styles are found at the dis tr ic t' s non-res id en t ial buildings, which include examples of the Beaux Arts and Moderne styles.

The Frank Blalock House [#162], built around 1910 at 107 East Spring Street for the secretary-treasurer of The Long Company department store,. is a typical, modest example of the transition from the Queen Anne to the Colonial Revival in the district. Although the two-story frame dwelling is clad in classically influenced elements, its front facade steps back and its roofline is varied, both components of the Queen Anne style. A similar form and finish was utilized at the contemporary Veasey-Williams [#141] and Ernest Linwood [#150] houses, standing at 213 and 212 Gilliam Street, respectively. The two-and-a-half-story, frame James W. Horner House [#137],. built in 1913 at 201 Gilliam Street by the owner of a local farm supply business, is a more complete and ornate example of the Colonial Revival style. Its front porch is topped by a triangular pediment supported on fluted columns. Mirroring this treatment are its three front dormers, which are adorned with pilasters and broken pediments. Columns and pilasters are also found inside, at the transverse arch of the hall and the neatly finished mantels. Executed in brick, the two-and-a-half-story Dr. W. N. Thomas House [#35] at 405 College Street is a close mate to the Horner's house. Built for the president of Oxford's Brantwood Hospital in 1926, its gable end roof is also capped by three broken pediment dormers. The Dutch variant of the Colonial Revival is found at one house in the district, the two-story, frame, Franklin W. Hancock Sr. House [#190], which was built with a sweeping gambrel roof at 103 West Front Street about 1914.

A single Eclectic dwelling that displays elements of the Chateauesque style stands in the town and district, the Beverly S. Royster House at 315 Raleigh Street [#158]. General Royster, a prominent Oxford attorney and mason, who was a major patron of

NPS Form 10-000-a (8--86)


Section number __ 7 __ Page _1_4_


the Oxford Orphanage, had his house raised around 1902 at the head of Front Street, at one of the district's dramatic T-intersections. The substantial two-and-a-half-story frame structure was designed by Raleigh architect Charles W. Barrett and featured in Colonial Southern Homes, a book of illustrations and plans of his designs published in Raleigh in 1903. While the house does feature popular Colonial Revival style £eatures such as columns and ped imen ted dormers, its steeply pitched hipped roof and solid massing give it a decidedly Chateauesque air.

Just as the Colonial Revival and Queen Anne styles had met during their overlapping periods of ascendancy - the close of the nineteenth century and the opening of the twentieth - the Colonial Revival merged with the bungalow style in the teens and twenties. The two-and-a-half-story, frame, Easton-Hancock House at 109 West Front Street [ #189], built by merchant Cameron H. Easton in 1915, features piers, classical mantels, a hipped roof dormer and other elements of the Colonial Revival style. These are merged, however, with the airy porch, wide overhanging bracketed roofs and ho r i z on tal em p has is of the bungalow. The Thad G. Stem House [#201] two doors to the east at 104 East Front Street is similarly scaled and finished, with the addition of rough stone piers as the supports of the squat, tapered posts of its porch and porte cochere.. Built for Oxford mayor Thaddeus Garland Stem, Sr. in 1913, it was subsequently the home of his son, the noted regional author Thad Stem Jr.

Related to and coterminous with the Colonial Revival style, though less popular perhaps because of its grander, more expensive nature, was the Neo-Classical style. It is represented exclusively in Oxford within the bounds of the district. Its dominant feature, the colossal two-story tall column, adorns four of Oxford's larger and finer early twentieth century residences. Robert G. Lassiter, a businessman and paving contractor, built his Neo-Classical style mansion [#143] at 221 Gilliam Street in 1908. Across the front of the two-and-a-half-story frame box he constructed a one-story, wraparound porch and a two-story portico, both supported by fluted Corinthian columns. Further Neo-Classical detail is provided by the triangular pediment that tops the portico and by the columned mantels that serve the spacious interior. The fine garden that once stood to the house's rear, shared by it and the J. M. Currin House to the east, has sadly been sown und·er.

NPS Form 10-000--a (8-00)

OMB Approval No. 1024-007 e

u the I r National Park Service

Section number __ 7_ Page _1_5_

Perhaps the most striking of Oxford's Neo-Classical Revival style structures is the C. D. Ray House [#20] at 404 College Street, a substantial residence built fittingly of frame, for Ray owned a lumberyard. Raised in 1911 on the site of an all but vanished antebellum dwelling - one crossetted fluted door frame and some heavy sills remain - the house is almost hidden by its deep, full facade, six-column portico. Inside it is, severely and neatly finished, with columns at it mantels and at the transverse archway that leads to its stair hall.

Four two-story tall, fluted Doric columns support the wide front portico that dominates the handsome house built by Oxford druggist John G. Hall [#112] at 221 Main Street in 1913. Basically a box, the structure features pedimented gables beneath its high hipped slate roof, and subsidiary side porches formed of f 1 u ted co 1 urn n s . The four t h N eo- C 1 ass i c a 1 res i d en c e in the district and town is the A. A. Hicks House, a similarly finished dwelling at 503 College Street [#40]. Built with four two-story tall, fluted columns for attorney Hicks in 1903, it now houses a funeral home.

The Neo-Classical and Colonial Revival styles also inform a number of non-residential buildings in the district. Two-story tall columns and other classical motifs adorn: the two-story, brick, C. G. Credle School [ #31], built in 1911 at 223 College Street; the two-s tory, brick, former Oxford Post Office [ # 1 06] , built in 1913 at the corner of Main and Littlejohn streets with an acurate Greek Doric entablature; and the two-story, brick, Oxford Baptist Church [#107], built in 1928 at 147 Main Street just to the south of the former post office that it now utilizes as a school ..

Two Eclectic styles found only at non-residential buildings in the town and district are the Beaux Arts and Moderne. The finest and most complete example of the Beaux Arts is the former Union Bank & Trust Company building [#1] at 108 College Street. Its two-story stone facade is flanked by massive square pillars and crowned by an academically correct Doric entablature complete with triglyphs, ornamented metopes and the other accoutrements of the order.

The Mod erne style is represented at two of the district's buildings. The two-story brick building at 118 Main Street that once housed the offices of the C & M Hosiery Mills [#119] is

NPS Form 10-900-a (B-88)


Section number _7 __ Page __ 16_

OMB Approval No. 1024-0J; E

adorned with thin bands of concrete and terra cotta tile that wind about and enframe its windows. The second story of the building was brought to its present appearance by Samuel Cohn, the president of the mill, after he purchased it in 1928. Though not built until 1943, and therefore not yet old enough to qualify for the Register, the stark,. stuccoed Orpheum Theatre [1!88] is a fine, stripped down example of the Moderne style. Built by E. G. Crews at 129 Williamsboro Street on the site of an earlier theater, its smooth, symmetrical,. vertical surfaces, rising up and out in barely perceptible fashion, are broken only by sunken panels holding bands of windows. Its original red and white band e d marquee and neon " Or ph e urn" s i gn s s t i 11 j u t forward a c r o s s its entry and ticket window.

The bungalow and Period Revival styles were the last to reach the district prior to World War II. Many of the district's more fanciful bungalows and Period Revival cottages were built by local contractor Walter Crews. The house at 709 College Street, in which he lived for a few years after its construction in the early 1920s - the Crews-Turner House [1!48] - is a fine example of the style. Two stories tall and brick-veneered, its sweeping roofs, expansive porch and porte cochere, and stone piers and tapered posts are all elements common to the style. Crews also is thought to have built, around 1920, the Outlaw Hunt House [#186] at 119 West Front Street. Hunt was a partner in the family lumber company and his wife, Marie, was a local portrait painter. Wide overhanging roofs sweep over the body of the one-and-a-half story frame bungalow and its front porch and porte cochere. The fanciful interior of the parlor includes mahogany wainscoting accented by burlap panels, a coffered ceiling and a mantel constructed of oversized bricks formed and laid in a variety of geometric shapes and patterns.

Two of the most unusual residences erected by Crews in the dis tr ic t are the Period Revival cottages located a block from each other on East Front Street. Rare examples of the style in the town, they are among the last contributing structures raised in the district, for the Depression was to bring building in Oxford to a crawl. The house he built at 201 East Front Street,. around 1931, for Sidney Cutts [ #195] - a tobacco auctioneer at the former Banner Warehouse - is a Revival version of the Tudor style. Rough clinker bricks form the walls of the one-and-a-half-story cottage, which is topped by a steeply pitched, flat-tiled roof. Po in ted- arches frame the heavy front door and the

NPS Fonn 10-900-a (8-86)


u the I National Park Service

Section number __ 7 __ Page _l_7_

ornate terra cotta mantel inside. The Mediterranean, rather than medieval England, pervades the Medford-Washington House [11206], built by Crews at 208 East Front Street in the late 1920s for William Medford. Rounded arches and squat Tuscan columns enframe its airy front porch. The front room of the one-story, tan, brick-veneered residence is also airy, lit by numerous windows and glass doors opening on to the porch.

Few buildings were erected in the district after 1937. Those that were are primarily small, minimally adorned, brick-veneered, Colonial Revival and ranch style houses, such as the John M. Royster House [1147], built in 1947 at 707 College Street; the Ray Knott House [11155], built in 1952 at 305 Raleigh Street; and the Edward Taylor House [11151], built at 214 Gilliam Street in 1964. Of the buildings raised prior to 1937, only a few are non-contributing, for only a few- such as the former Long [11116] and Hub [11117] store buildings at 100 and 106 Main Street, respectively- have had major alterations made to their facades.

NPS Form 10-000-a (~) OMB Approval No. 1024-Z•: 18

Un of National Park Service

Section number __ 7 __ Page _ 1_8_

INVENTORY LIST OF HISTORIC DISTRICT PROPERTIES

METHODOLOGY

I D If : Proper t i e s are n urn be red cons e cut i v e 1 y , s tree t by s tree t . Streets in the northern part of the district are covered first, then those in the southern part of the district. Major outbuildings - such as garages and detached kitchens - and other associated buildings - such as classroom annexes and additiol)al industria 1 b u i 1 d i ng s are as s i gn ed the number of the p r im a r y inventoried property and a sub letter. For example, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is number 6* in the inventory; its detached parish house is number 6a. Outbuildings insubstantial in size and scale, such as sheds and small garages, are not included in the inventory list. An asterisk after the number of a property, such as that following the number 6 of St. Stephen's Epicopal Church, indicates that a complete inventory file is on file at the Division of Archives and History, Survey and Planning Branch, in. Raleigh, North Carolina. These files include North Carolina Historic Structures computer inventory forms; field notes; extensive black and white photographs and, often, colored slides; research notes; and narrative architectural/historical descriptions. Properties with ID numbers not followed by as t e r i s k s , such as property numb e r 4 , the r e c en t 1 y cons t r u c t e d 1st American Savings Bank, have less detailed individual files which include at least one photograph and a completed computer inventory form.

STATUS: The letter "C" under the status of the property indicates that it is a property ~hat contributes to the integrity of the district. The letters "NC" denote a non-contributing property. The letter "C" standing alones denotes a building. "C-site" denotes a contributing site; "C-obj" denotes a contributing object. "NC-age" indicates that the property is non-contributing because it was built within 50 years of the preparation of this nomination. "NC-alt" indicates that the property is non-contributing because alterations have damaged its integrity.

NAME: The name of the property is in most instances that of the earliest known owner or use. Where a later owner or owners had a notable association with the property, through length of

NPS ~orm 10-900-a (s-&l)


Section number _ 7 __ Page __ 19 __

OMB J.pproval No. 102.LOJ;e

ownership or occupancy or by making significant alterations, the property is given a compound name. Ownership and uses were de t e rrn in e d through deed s ; interviews with property owners , descendants of former owners and local historians; early maps, particularly Gray's Oxford map of 1882 and those of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company; city directories, particularly Miller' Oxford d ire c tory o f 1 9 2 9 - 3 0 ; and newspaper art i c 1 e s and other d o c urn en t s p r e s e r v e d in the n urn e r o us s c r a p b o o k s o f the Hays Collection located in the Richard H. Thornton Public Library in Oxford.

ADDRESS : The add res s 1 i s ted is the pres en t add res s of the property. North-south running streets are organized from south to north, following the east side of the street first, then the west. East-west running streets are followed from west to east, starting on the north side of the street, then the south. Apparent inconsistencies of numbering of West and East Front Streets are caused by aberrant numbering of those streets - the properties on those streets are followed from west to east, starting on their north sides.

DATE: The dates of properties are those when the property was built or, when precise information was not available, estimates. Thes~ precise dates and estimates are based upon the sources d e s c r i bed above that were us e d to d e t e rrn in e property n am e s , as well as the town's limited tax records and the apparent age of the property. Apparent age was determined through physical appearance, particularly stylistic features, floor plans, materials and methods of construction. Most dates listed as between two years, especially in the commercial area of the district, are based upon the Sanborn maps. For example, property number 24, Herndon Block Number 2, does not appear on the 1885 Sanborn map, but does appear on the next drawn map, that of 1888.

STYLE:· The style terms are basically those employed by Virginia and Lee McAlester in A Field Guide to American Houses. Where a property displays more than one noteworthy style, the styles are listed in descending order of importance. Unless otherwise noted in parenthesis after the style, all residential properties and their outbuildings are of frame and all non-residential properties are of brick construction. Where a property displays no notable style, such as a garage, its style is listed as 11 Functional . 11

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-&J)


Section number 7 Page __ 2°_


HGHT: The height of a property is its present height. "1 .. 5" denotes a one-and-a-half-story tall property; "2 .. 5" denotes a two-and-a-half-story property. Where a property has two principal heights, both ·are listed.

PRESENT USE: The present use denotes the present, rather than the historic, use of the property. Its historic use is indicated by its name.

Additional notable information about a property that is not included within the above categories is given briefly in a sentence underneath the inventory list information about the property. Further information about many properties is found in the narrative statements and description that precede this inventory list.

~iPS Form 10-900-a (8-&l)


Section number __ 7 __ Page __ 21_

INDIVIDUAL PROPERTIES

ID# STATUS NAME ADDRESS

c (Former) Union Bank & Trust Co 108 College St

c (Former) Upchurch-Currin Store 114 College St

3* c Lyon-Winston Building

4 NC-age 1st American Savings Bank

5 NC-alt Oxford Ct'edit Union

6a 6b 6c

c

NC-age NC-age C-site

7* c 7a C

St Stephens Episcopal Church

Parish house (Former) boy scout hut

Ch m;:h cernet ery

Edwards-Cannady House Dwelling/garage

118 College St

128 College St

134 College St

140 College St

200 College St

DATE

1913

1909

1911

1980s

1930s

1902

1958 1947 1850s

1870s 1870s

OMB Approval No. 1024-C•J18

STYLE HGHT PRESENT USE

Beaux Arts

Italianate

Italianate

Modern (brick veneer)

Modern (brk & stone vnr)

2

'j L

Richardsonian Rom/Gothic 1 Revival/Shingle (stone)

Modern Modern vernacular (log) N/A N/A

Italianate Functional

., L

Bank

Retai 1 store

Retai 1 store

Bank

Ct'ed it union

Church

Parish house Meet i r1g house Cemetery

Dwelling Garage

8* C (Former) L C Edwards Law Office 204 College St 1870s Italianate Dwelling Shifted from southwest to northwest corner of lot in early 20th cent and converted to t'esidence

c Hundley-White House/ 11 The Villa" 208 College St

10 c Stark-Mayes House 210 College St

11* c Luther Stark House 214 College St

12 c Mattie Hobgood House 218 College St

13 c Dr. Roy Noblin House 222 College St

14 c John Ellington House 224 College St

15 c Henry Furman House 226 College St

16* c St. Stephens Episcopal Rectory 302 College St

17* c William A Adams House 306 College St

1889 Second Empire 2

1906 Colonial Revival 2

1904 !-House/Colonial Rev 2

1906 Queen Anne/Italianate 2

1932 Colonial Rev (brick vnrl 2

1928 Colonial Rev (brick vnrl 2

1900 I-House/Italianate 2

1923 Colonial Revival 2

betw 1885-91 I-House/Ital/Col Rev ., L

Dwelling

Dwelling

Dwelling

Dwelling

Dwelling

Dwelling

Dwelling

Dwelling

Dwelling

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86)


Section number _ _;_7_ Page _-=...:22=---

18t c Pinnix-Bradsher House 308 College St

19* c Booth-Watkins-Mitchell House 400 College St

20* c C D Ray House 404 College St 20a c Garage/dwelling

21* c Thomas Lanier House 410 College St

22* c Col Roger 0 Gregory House 414 College St 22a c (Former) kitchen

23* c Oxford Orphanage Supt's House College Street 23a C-obj John H. Mills Mernorial Gateway

24* c Herndon Block Number 2 101-113 College St

25* c (Former) Acme Hardware Store 127-139 College St

E.'6* c Oxfm'd Methodist Church 149 College St 26a c Lyon Education Building 26b NC-age Education building annex

27* c Taylor-McClanahar,-Srai th House 203 College St

27a c Garage 27b c Guest house

28* c Erwin-Baird House 209 College St

29 c Helen Taylor House 213 College St 29a c Garage/dwelling

30t c Watkins Family House 217 College St 30a c Garage/dwelling

31* c C G Credle School 223 College St 31a c Recreation Building 31b NC-age Class room anr,ex

79 vL c Robert S Bradsher House 309 College St


1880s Italianate/Queen Anne 2 Dwelling

1880s I tal ianate 2 Dwelling

1911 Neo-Classical 2 Dwelling 1911 Functional 2 Garage

1900 Queen Anne 2 Dwelling

early 1880s !tal ianate 2 Dwelling early 1880s Functional (brick) 1 Garage

1918 Colonial Revival (bt'ick) 2.5 Dwelling 1931 Colonial Revival (brick) N/A Gateway

betw 1885-88 Italianate 2 Retail stot'es

betw 1915-22 Italianate 2 Retail stores

1903 Queen Anne/Gothic Rev Church 1912 I tal ianate .-. Educ bldg c. 1973 Modern (concrete block 2 Educ bldg

and brick veneer)

1820s Georgian/transitional/ 2 Dwelling Federal

early 1900s Functional Gat·age 1928 Modern vernacular (log) Storage

betw 1902-08 Queen Anne 2.5 Dwelling

betw 1922-28 Col Rev/Bung (brk vnr) 2.5 Dwelling betw 1922-28 Functional (bri~k vnr) 2 Garage

1900s Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling 1900s Functional (brick vnr) 1.5 Dwelling

1911 Col Rev/Neo-Classical 2 School 1934 Colonial Revival Gym 1952 Intern at i or, a l (concrete Classrooms

block and brick veneer)

betw 1915-22 Colonial Revival '.:) t:: Lo.J Dwelling

NPS Fum 10-000-a (~)

Un National Park Service

Section number __ 7 __ Page __ 23_

33 c Dr J M Hays House 311 College St 33a c Garage

34 c E L Parham House 403 College St

35* c Dr W N Thomas House 405 College St 35a c Garage

36 c Martha Taylor House 409 College St

37* c Lyon-Faucette House 411 College St 37a c Garage

38* c Chapman-Hummel House 415 College St

39* c Abner N Jones House 419 College St

40* c A A Hicks House 503 College St

41 NC-age James W Ct'awford Jr House 509 College St

42* c Dorsey-Brown-Floyd House 513 College St

43* c Hundley-Cannady House 517 College St

44* c Norman Burwell House 601 College St 44a c (Former) kitchen

45* c White-Britt House 607 College St 45a c (Former) kitchen

46 c Meadows House 611 College St

47 NC-age John M Royster House 707 College St

48* c Crews-Turner House 709 College St

49* c Webb-Adams House 711 College St

50* c (Former) L H Currin - American New College St Tobacco Company Prize House

51* c Bullock-Crews House 306 Broad St


1880s Queen Anne Dwelling eady 1900s Fur1ct ion a l Gat' age

1936 Colonial Rev (brick vnrl 2 Dwelling

1926 Colonial Rev (brick vnr) 2.5 Dwell ir1g 1926 Functional (brick vnrl Garage

1914 Bungalow 1.5 Dwelling

1880s !-House/Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling eat'! y 1900s Fur,ct ional 1 Garage

1880s Italianate/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling

1857 Greek Revival 2 Dwelling

1903 Neo-Classical 2.5 Funeral Horne

1975 Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

1880s Italianate/Colonial Rev 'j 1:' L.o.J Dwelling

1880s Eastlake 2.5 Dwelling

late 1880s Colonial Rev/Italianate 2 Dwelling late 1880s Functional Stot'age

1880s Colonial Revival 2.5 Dwell ir1g 1880s Functional 1 Storage

1911 !-House/Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

1947 Ranch (brick veneer) 1.5 Dwelling

early 1920s Bungalow (brick vnrl 2 Dwelling

1880s Colonial Revival 'j 1.. Dwelling

1880s Italianate Vacant

1903 1-House/Italianate -:. 1.. Dwelling

NPS Fdnn 10-000-a (8-86)


Section number __ 7_ Page _2_4_

52* c John Henry Bullock House 310 Broad St 52 a c Garage

53 c E G Moss House 301 Broad St

54 c J R Furguson House 305 Broad St

55 NC-age Bill Roller House 309 Broad St

56 c William Z Mitchell House 401 Broad St

57* c John Z Mitchell House 405 Broad St

58* c (Former) Imperial Tobacco Co: SW corner Broad -Storage Building and West Sts


1891 Queen Anne 'j L Dwelling 1891 Functional Gat· age

ca 1900 I-House 2 Dwelling

ca 1900 Queen Anne Dwelling

1960 Ranch Dwelling

1880s Queen Anne Dwelling

1880s Queen Ar1ne 2 Dwelling

betw 1888-92 Italianate 3.5 Industrial

Imperial Tobacco C~apany acquired this building, which was built as a prizet·y for Johr1 Meadows, between 1915 and 1919 58 a c -Storage & Processir1g Bldgs betw 1904-09 Italianate 2; 1 Industrial 58b c -Storage & Receiving Bldgs betw 1909-15 Italianate lr1dustrial 5Bc c -Storage & Redrying Bldgs betw 1915-22 Italianate Industrial

59* c Bryant-Kingsbury House 417 Goshen St ca 1826 Georg ian/trar1si t ional I 'j Dwelling L Federal

Probably the oldest building in Oxford, the Bryant-Kingsbury House was n10ved to its present site from the northern head of Main Street in 1910

60 c

NPS Form 10-000-a (8-88)


Section number 7 Page

68 c E E Fuller House

69 c Carrie Fuller House

70t c John R Perkinson House

71 c Lawson J'Speed House

72 c Wood-Goodwin House

73 c Samuel Cohn House

74* c Timothy Darling Presbyterian Church

75 c Oscar Chappell House

76* c (Former) Mary Potter School Shop

77+ c Dr. George C. Shaw House

78* c (Former) Oxford Buggy Company Building

79* c (Former) R C Watkins & Son Barn/Livery Stable

80 c (Former) Virginia-Carolina Ice Company

81* c (Former) First National Bank of Oxford

82 c (Fomer) Horner Bros Co Store

83+ NC-alt Union National Bank

84* c (Former) National Bank of Granville

85+ c Hunt Building


Interior

25

1 04 Rectory St betw 1922-28 Bungalow 1.5 Dwelling

1 08 Rectory St betw 1909-15 Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

112 Rectory St 1905 Queen Anne 2 Dwelling

114 Rectory St 1906 Queen Anne/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling

115 W McClanahan St betw 1915-22 Colonial Revival 2 Retail store

117 W McClanahan St betw 1915-~2 Bungalow 1.5 Offices

123 W McClanahan St 1906 Queen Hnne/Gothic Rev Church (brick veneet~)

121 E McClanahan St betw 1915-22 Queen Anne Dwelling

201 E McClanahan St 1927 Colonial Revival Storage

202 E McClanahan St 1921 Bungalow (brick) 1.5 Dwelling

Watkins Street betw 1922-28 Functional (metal clad) Storage

Watkir1s Street betw 1909-15 Functional Storage

110 Watkins Street 1929 Functional Wholesale Store

109 Hillsboro St betw 1888-92 Beaux Arts 3 Bank

119 Hillsboro St 1909 Italianate 2 Retail store

103 Williamsboro St betw 1888-92 Modern facade 2 Bank

107 Williamsboro St 1891 Richardsonian Romanesque 2 Offices (stone and brick)

117 Williamsboro St betw 1885-88 Italianate 'j L. Dry cleaners

NPS Form 10-000-a (8-M)


Section number 7 Page 26

85 c (Former) Oxford Electric Co 123 Will iamsboro St

87 c (Forr11erl Granville County 127 Williamsboro St Health Department

88* NC-age Orpheum Theatre 129 Williamsboro St

89 NC-alt Granville Cty Courthouse Annex 120 Williamsboro St

9(~ c (Former) Oxford Opera House 122 Williamsboro St

91* c (Former) Granville County Jail Court Street

92 c (Former) Granville Park Inc. 107 Littlejohn St

93 c (Fomer) Oxford Building and 109 Li tt le.john St Loan Association

94 c (Former) Western Union 111 Littlejohn St Telegraph Company Bldg

95 c (Former) Public.Ledger 120 Li tt le,john St Printing Office

95* c Granville County Courthouse 101 Main St Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979

97* c Rogers-Brown Building 111 Main St

98* c Granville Furniture Company 117 Main St

99 c (Forrnet') J C Penney Store 121 Main St

100 NC-alt (Former) Princess Theatre 123 Main St

101 c Hall's Drug Store 125 Main St

102 c (Former) Dt' S H Cannady Office 127 Main St

103 NC-alt (Former) Cherkas Tailor Shop 131 Main St

104 c Elliott's Jewelers 133 Main St

105 c (Former) D Penders Grocery 135 Main St

OMB Approval No. 1024-{)()18

betw 1915-22 Ital iar1ate 2 Retail stores

1910s Italianate 2 Retail stores

1943 Mod erne 2 Movie theatre

betw 1904-C~ Modern 2 Cty offices

1888 Gothic Revival •J L. Fire dept; Cty offices

ca 1858 Greek Revival 2 County museum

betw 1922-28 Italianate Offices



betw 1909-15 Italianate Baptist

youth hut

1838-40 Greek Revival 2 Cty courthse

betw 1909-15 Colonial Revival 2 Retail store

early 1880s I tal ianate ·::> L. Retail store

early 1880s !tal ianate ·::> Retail store 1...

early 1880s Modern facade 'J L. Retail store

betw 1885-88 Ital ianate 2 Drug store

btw1897-1904 Italianate Beauty salon

betw 1915-22 Modern facade Retail store

betw 1915-22 Italianate Retail store

betw 1915-22 Italianate 2 Offices

NPS Form 1 0..000--a (8-88) >

U Department the I National Park Service

Section number __ 7 __ Page _2_7_


(Former) Oxfor·d Post Office SE corner Main and 1913 Neo-Classical 2 Oxf Bapt Ch

107* c

108* c 108a C

109 c 109a C

110 c 110a C

111 c

112* c 112a C

113* c

Oxford Baptist Church

Thomas White Jr House Garage

W H Fleming House Garage/dwelling

J R Wood House Garage

Samuel Hall House

Johr1 G Hall House Garage

Samuel M Watkins House

114 NC-age T S Royster House.

115 NC-age James Pruitt House

116 NC-alt (Forraer) Long Co Store

117 NC-alt (Former} Hub Store

Littlejohn Sts

147 Main St

203 Main St

207 Main St

213 Main St

219 Main St

221 Main St

301 Main St

305 Main St

307 Main St

100 Main St

106 Main St

1928 Neo-Classical/Col Rev

1889 Colonial Revival early 1900s Functional

education bldg

Church

2.5 Dwelling 1. 5 Garage

1922 1922

Col Rev/Bung (brk vr,r) 2 Functional (brick vnr) 2

Dwelling Garage

betw 1915-22 Colonial Revival betw 1915-22 Functional

2.5 Dwelling Garage

1936 Colonial Revival (brick) 2 Dwelling

1913 1913

1880s

1939

Neo-Classical F unct i or, a l

Second Empire

Colonial Revival

2.5 Dwelling Garage

3 Dwelling

1. 5 Dwell ir1g

1950 Colonial Rev (brick vnr} 1.5 Dwelling

betw 1885-88 Modern facade Retail store

betw 1885-88 Modern facade 2 Retail .store The former Long Co and Hub Stores were built as one building, Herndon Block No. lj substantial alterations have effaced

their integrity and set them off as two distinct buildings

118* c

119* c

(Former) Rose's Dept Store

(Former) C & M Hosiery Mills Offices

110 Main St

118 Main St

betw 1904-09 Italianate

early 1880s; Moderne late 1920s

2

2

Retail store

Offices

Originally two adjoined but sepat•ate buildir,gs, this property was brought to its present, unified appearance by Samuel Cohn after he purchased it in 1928

120 NC-alt (Former) PerkinsDrJ-Green Store 124 Main St betw 1909-15 Modern facade 2 Retail store

121 c (Former) Kittrell Music Store 130 Main St betw 1915-22 Italianate Retail store

122 NC-age Central Carolina Bank 140 Main St 1970-71 Modern Bank

NPS Form 10-900-a (&-ad}



123 NC-age Oxford Post Office and Federal Building

124 NC-age Richard H. Thornton Library

PC' LJ C-obj Confederate. Monument Moved from in front in courthouse in 1971

126 c Dr C White House

127* c Herr~on-White-Sharp House

128 NC-age John Webb House

129* c Sarah Hall House

130* c Parks-Routon House

131* c Cannady Farni ly House

132* c Cozart-Cannady House 132a C Garage

133* c Hester-Harris House 133a C Garage 133b c Carriage house/stable

134 c Dr G S Watkins House 134a C Garage

135* c Oxford Presbyterian Church

136* c Bransford Ballou House

137* c James W Horner House 137a C Garage/dwelling

138 c Eliza Pool House

28

144 Main St

210 Main St

In front of library

214 Main St

216 Main St

222 Mai rt St

224 Main St

302 Main St

304 Main St

308 Main St

312 Mairt St

316 Main St

121 Gi 11 iam St

125 Gi 11 iam St

201 Gilliam St

205 Gi 11 iam St


1957 Modern 1 ;2 Post office, Fedl offices

1963 Modern Library

1909 Classical N/A Monument

1886 !-House/Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

1872 I-House/Italianate ') L Dwelling

early 1970s Ranch Dwelling

1880s I-House/Italianate ·j L Dwelling

1880s Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

1880s Queen Anne Dwelling

1870s Italianate/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling early 1900s Furtctional 1.5 Gat•age

1916 Bungalow 2.5 Dwelling 1916 Funct iortal (brick vnr) 1 Gat•age 1880s Funct iortal 1.5 Gat•age

1919 Colonial Rev/Bungalow 2 Dwelling 1919 Functional (brick vnr) 1 Garage .

1892 Queen Anne/Gothic Rev Church

betw 1904-15 Colonial Revival 2.5 Dwell i rtg

1913 Colonial Revival 2.5 Dwelling 1913 Functional 1.5 Garage

turn-of-cent !-House/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling Shifted to present site from lot to north in 1913 when James W Horner House built

139 c E G Crews House 207 Gi 11 iam St betw 1909-15 Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

140 c H J Council House 209 Gilliam St betw 1904-09 Queen Anne Dwelling

NPS Form 10-000-a (8-&l)


Section number __ ? __ Page _ 2_9_

141* c Veasey-Williams House 213 Gilliam St

142 c W J Long House 215 Gilliam St

143* c Robert G La.ssi ter House 221 Gilliam St

144 c R D Currin House 305 Gilliam St

145 NC-age Lelia Cutts House 309 Gilliam St

146* c Oxford's Women's Club 118 G i 11 i am St

OMB A;.;:xova/ No. 1024-001 E

1912 Queen Anne/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling


1908 Neo-Classical 2.5 Dwelling

betw 1922-28 Bungalow Dwelling

1944 Ranch Dwelling

ca 1850 1-House/Gr.eek Rev(frame) ·:o L. Club house Former dwelling, shifted to present site from lot to the south circa 1912

147 NC-age City Barber Shop 120 G i 11 i arn St early 1940s Modern (concrete block) Barber shop

148 NC-age John Mullins House 206 G i 11 i am St 1950s Ranch/Colonial Revival Dwelling

149 c Medfot'd House 208 G i 11 i am St 1899 !-House/Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

150* c Ernest Linwood House 212 Gilliam St 1915 Queen Anr1e/Colonial Rev 'J L. Dwelling

151 NC-age Edward Taylor House 214 Gilliam St 1964 Ranch/Col Rev(brick vnr) Dwelling

152t c Marcellus Lanier House 220 Gilliam St betw 1847-51 !-House/Greek Revival 2 r: ,,J Dwelling 152a NC-age Garage post-1940 Functional Gat' age

153 c V W Taylor House 306 Gilliam St betw 1922-28 Colorlial Revival 'J L. Dwelling

154 NC-age Claude Rucker House 303 Raleigh St 1940s Colonial Rev (brick vr1rl Dwelling·

155 NC-age Ray Knott House 305 Raleigh St 1952 Colonial Rev (brick vnr) Dwelling

156* c (Former) Oxford Female Seminary 307 Raleigh St 1904 Colonial Revival (frame) 2 Dwelling

157 NC-age Sam Baird House 311 Raleigh St 1938 Colonial Rev (brick vnrl 1.5 Dwelling

158* c Beverly S Royster House 315 Raleigh St betw 1900-02 Chateauesque/Col Rev 2.5 Dwelling

159* c Mary L Hargrove House 300 Raleigh St 1890 Queen Anne 'j Dwe 11 i ng L.

160* c Howell Family House 304 Raleigh St 1907 !-House/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling

161* c Will Landis House 308 Raleigh St 1900s Colonial Rev/Queen Anne 1.5 Dwelling

NPS Form 10-000-a (8-88)


Section number -----'---7- Page __ 3°_

162* c Frank Blalock House 107 E Spring St

163* c Kingsbury-Young-Yancey House 111 E Spring St

164* c Augustus Hall House 115 E Spring St

165 NC-age Carolina Telephone Building 104 E Spring St

166 c J C Cooper House 110 E Spt'ing St

167t c (Former) Oxford Methodist Ch 114 E Spring St


1910 Queen Anne/Colonial Rev 'j Dwelling L

betw 1845-55 !-House/Greek Revival 2 Dwelling

1912 Colonial Revival 2.5 Dwelling

.I

early 1980s Modern (brick veneer) Offices

1920 Bungalow 2 Dwelling

late 1830s Greek Revival (frame) Dwelling Converted to dwelling after 1866; moved from SW corner of Sycamore ar1d Main Sts to present site between 1897 and 1904

168* c Ja~1es M Currin HoiJse 213 High St 1886 Queen Anne/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling

169* c Kingsbury-Bryan House 303 High St 1842 !-House/Greek Revival 2 Dwelling 169a C (Former) smokehouse ca 1842 Vernacular functional Storage

170 NC-age Maurice Pruitt House 104 High St 1938 Tudor Rev (brick vnr) 1.5 Dwelling

171 c Aiken-Roystet' House 106 High St 1887 Queen Anne Dwelling

172* c Crews Family House 108 High St 1890s !-House/Colonial Rev 2 Dwelling

173* c Betts-Tayler House 110 High St 1840s !-House/Greek Revival 2 Dwelling

174* c Lassiter-Mullins House 200 High St 1870s Queen Anne Dwelling

175* c William A Devin House 204 High St 1880s Queen Anne Dwelling

176 c Murray-Johnson House 132 W Front St 1913 Queen Anne/Colonial Rev Dwelling

177 c Grover Yancey House 128 W Front St 1913 !-House/Colonial Rev 'j L Dwelling

178 c Crews-Tunstall House 126 W Front St 1913 Queen Ar,ne/Colonial Rev Dwell ir1g

179 c Cleveland H Timberlake House 122 W Front St 1913 !-House/Colonial Rev 'j Dwelling L

180 NC-age John E Pittard House 120 W Front St early 1980s Ranch/Colonial Revival Dwelling

181* c Henry-Ellen Humphries House 116 W Front St 1902 !-House/Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

182t c Watkins-Harris House 112 W Front St 1880s I tal iar,ate 1.5 Dwelling

NPS Form 10-000-a (8-&l)


Section number __ 7 ___ Page _ 3_1_

Moved to site from corner of Main and Front streets in 1918

183 c W H Pryor House 110 W Front St

184 NC-age Mattie B Harris House 108 W Front St

185* c Titus Grandy House 129 W Front St

186* c Outlaw Hunt House 119 W Front St

187 NC-age Ben Pace House 117 W Front St

188* c Joshua A Stradley House 113 W Front St

189* c Easton-Hancock House 109 W Front St

1 '3Cl* c Frar1kl in W Hancock Sr House 103 W Front St 190a C Garage~/ dwe 11 i ng

191 c N M Ferebee House 101 W Fror1t St

1.92* c Frank Shamburger House 105 E Front St

193 NC-age Prentiss Ezell House 107 E Front St

194* c James S Rogers House 115 E Front St

195* c Sidney Cutts House 201 E Fror1t St

196 c Williams-Crenshaw House 205 E Front St

197 NC-age J M Reams House 207 E Front St

198* c Joseph Terons House 209 E Front St

199 c J P Harris House 100 E Fror1t St

200 c Joseph H Averett House 102 E Front St

201* c Thad G Stem House 104 E Front St 20ia NC-age Garage

202* c Herndon-Hunt House 108 E Front St

OM5 /.pproval NJ. 1024-0011!

betw 1915-22 Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

1986 Ranch/Col Rev(brick vnr) 1.5 Dwelling

1850s 1-House/Greek Revival 2 Dwelling


1972 Moderr1 (brick veneer) 2 Dwelling

1860s Greek Revival Dwelling

1915 Colonial Rev/Bungalow 2.5 Dwelling

1914 Dutcli Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling 1914 Functional •j Ga~'age 1-

betw 1915-22 Bungalow 1.5 Dwelling

1910 Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

1950 Ranch/Col Rev (brk vnr) Dwelling

1904 Colonial Revival 1.5 Dwelling

1931 Tudor Revival (brk vnr) 1.5 Dwelling

betw 1909-15 Colonial Revival 2 Dwelling

1954 Ranch/Colonial Revival Dwelling

early 1880s Queen Anne 2 Dwelling


betw 1915-22 Bungalow 1.5 Dwelling

betw 1915-22 Colonial Rev/Bungalow 2 Dwelling post-1940 Functional Garage

1850s;1910s Greek Rev;Colonial Rev 2.5 Dwelling Early in 20th century original Greek Revival style, antebellwn house was r·otated on lot and Colonial Revival style

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-88)



block was added to its front

203* c Sallie Hunt Davis House 203a C Garage

204* c Mary Hunt Parker House

205 c Wi 11 iams-Washington House 205a NC-age Gat'age

206+ c Medford-washington House

207 NC-age Marie Hunt House

32

114 E Front St

202 E Fr0r1t St

205 E Front St

208 E Front St

402 Coggeshall St

OMB Approval Ho. 1024-0018

1915 Queen Anne/Col Rev/Bung 2 Owe 11 i ng 1916 Functional 1 Gat~ age

1880s I-House/Italianate (brk) 2 Dwelling

1926 Colonial Rev (brick vnr) Dwelling 1954 Functional 1.5 Garage

1926 Mediterranean Period Rev 1 Dwelling

1945 Colonial Revival Dwelling

8. Statement of Significance Certifying oHicial has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties:

0 nationally ILJ statewide [X] locally

Applicable National Register Criteria []A. DB []] C D D

Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) 0 A DB DC [J D [J E D F [] G

Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Architecture

_ _c_g m ra.~r~e ____________________ _ ___ ln_p u s t r.._y __

Significant Person N/A

-----------

Period of Significance 1865-1937 17 6 4- 1 $_6 4

Significant Dates 1 8 1 2 ( 1 s t __ l 0 li__ s 0 J d ) 1838 (courthouse bc:ot

\ ---------- ~ ___ 1886, lBrrkQmme_rsi a·

district fires) Cultural AHiliation N /A

Architect/Builder various/unknown, including: Bai11_,_W.C

_______________________ C~r~e~w~s~ Walter __ B a r r e t t , C h a r 1 e s W .

State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above.


[KJ See continuation sheet

NPS For-n 10-900--8 (8-&3)


Section number 8 Page _1 __

OMB Approval No. 102+-x!1B

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Graciously placed along the broad, shaded streets that radiate out from the stately 1838 Granville County Courthouse, the buildings of the Oxford Historic District have changed little in the past half century and continue to vividly evoke the life of a genteel, nineteenth and early twentieth century, North Carolina county seat and tobacco market. Architecturally varied and exceptional, the District's residences, churches, businesses and tobacco buildings form a more evocative whole than any other tobacco town of the Bright Leaf Border Belt, including Henderson and Roxboro to the east and west and South Boston across the border in Virginia. The 246 buildings, objects ·and sites, only 32 of which were built within the past 50 years, stand at the town's commercial center and at the two residential neighborhoods that stretch from the courthouse to the north out from College Street and to the south out from Main Street. The district is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A because it illustrates the development and growth of Oxford during the antebellum Plantation Era, as well as the town's continued growth and ultimate ascendance in the county during the post Civil War years of the Bright Leaf Tobacco Era. The quality and variety of the historic architecture preserved in the district, particularly its many fine Romantic, Victorian and Eclectic style residences, make it further eligible for listing in the Register under Criterion C.

HISTORIC CONTEXTS AND PROPERTY TYPES

The Oxford Historic District is associated with two of Granville County's three historic contexts - the Plantation Era in Granville County, 1746-1865, and Bright Leaf Tobacco and the Ascendancy of Oxford, 1 86 6-1 9 3 7 - and five of its six property types: Georgian and Federal Style Dwellings; Greek Revival and Romantic Style Dwellings; Romantic, Victorian and Eclectic Style Buildings in Oxford; Commercial, Industrial, Institutional and Religious Buildings - Bright Leaf Era Oxford; and Outbuildings. It embraces the first developed sections of Oxford and ·includes a majority of the town's surviving nineteenth century properties and most of its significant early twentieth century properties as well. The majority of these properties are residential, though the district also includes churches, banks, tobacco processing and storage facilities, schools and other non-residential

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86)


Section number __ 8 __ Page __ 2 _

OMB Approval No. 1024--001 E

buildings, and the town's commercial core. Physically, the district retains its historical and architectural integrity. 205 of its 246 buildings, objects and sites contribute to its integrity. Only 32 of these properties have been built since 1937. The 246 properties include numerous well-maintained examples of virtually every architectural style and form, but for the very earliest, known to have been raised in the town. Associatively,. the district retains its historical and architectural integrity too, for it reflects, and continues to represent, the development of Oxford, Granville County and, more broadly, the tobacco towns of the Bright Leaf Border Belt.

The d i s t r i c t is as soc i ate d w i t h the p 1 ant at ion era in the town and county through its pre-Civil War buildings and plan, fitting within and vivifying the Plantation Era in Granville County, 1746-1865, historic context and the Plantation Era Properties in Oxford, 1866-1937, property type. It also fits within the property type Plantation and Bright Leaf Era Outbuildings in Granville County, 1746-1937, retaining a pegged, antebellum outbuilding [#169a], probably originally a smokehouse, behind the 1840s Kingsbury-Bryan House [#169] at 303 High Street - an outbuilding that hints at the rural nature of the town prior to the Civil War - and 27 other substantial outbuildings, most notably large garages with dwelling space atop and detached, former kitchens. All but two of its pre-Civil War buildings, the circa 1825, Georgian/Federal style, Bryant-Kingsbury House [#59] at 417 Goshen Street and the Georgian/Federal style, 1820s, Taylor-McClanahan-Smith House [ #27] at 203 College Street, were built in the quarter century preceeding the Civi'l War. Their size and Greek Revival style finish, similar to that of many plantation dwellings built elsewhere in the county at the time, suggest a town that was prosperous during that quarter century, but no more prosperous than the countryside around it.

Established as the county seat during the plantation era, the town retains two pre-Civil War institutional buildings, both located within the district, that reflect its earliest, and continuing, function as the center of county government the Greek Revival style, Flemish bond, 1838 Granville County Courthouse [ #96] at 101 Main Street and the late 1850s former Granville County Jail [ #91] to its rear on Court Street. The Oxford Orphanage, part of which is included within the district [#23 and 23a], stands on the site of the defunct St. John's College and connects the district with the town's early

NPS Form 10-900-a (8-00)

Un Depa National Park Service

Section number __ 8_ Page 3


prominence as an education center. The street plan in the district, much of which is unchanged from that shown on the two earliest maps of the town - the 1812 plan of Oxford (attached as Map 1) and the 1826 map of Oxford (attached as Map 2) - shows the historic outline of the town. Its uneven grid and many T-intersections also indicate the sites where some of the town's earliest buildings stood and where its springs once,flowed.

The dwellings in the district associated with the Bright Leaf Tobacco and the Ascendancy of Oxford, 1866-1937, historic context are predominantly larger, finer and more stylish than their country contemporaries, reflecting the ascendancy of Oxford during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This ascendancy was prompted, directly or indirectly, by the value of the county's bright leaf tobacco crop, much of which flowed through the town on its way to the consuming public. Some of the dwellings in the district were built by individuals directly associated with the tobacco trade: the John Henry Bullock [#52] and John Z. Mitchell [#57] Queen Anne style houses at 310 and 405 Broad Street were raised during the boom years of the 1880s and early 1890s for the co-owners of the recently demolished Banner Warehouse; the Second Empire style Samuel M. Watkins House [#113] at 301 Main Street was erected by a local tobacco warehouseman; James M. Currin, a buyer for the American Tobacco Company, built his Queen Anne style mansion [#168] at 213 High Street; and Sidney Cutts, an auctioneer, built his more modest Period Revival house [#195] at 201 East Front Street. Those involved in trade not directly related to the tobacco business who built houses in the district include merchant Cameron H. Easton of the Colonial Revival/Bungalow style Easton-Hancock House [#189] at 109 West Front Street; lumberyard owner C. D. Ray whose Neo-Classical mansion [ #20] stands at 404 College Street; mercantilist Frank Blalock, who raised his house [#162] at 107 East Spring Street; and James W. Horner, the owner of a farm supply business, whose large Colonial Revival style house [lt137] stands at 201 Gilliam Street. Many professionals also made their home in the district, continuing a practice that existed during the plantation era. Col. Leonidas Compton Edwards [#7], Thomas Lanier [#21] and A. A. Hicks [#40], all attorneys, built their Italianate, Queen Anne and Neo-Classical Revival style houses at 204, 410 and 503 College Street, respectively. Dr. W. N. Thomas, the president of Oxford's Brantwood Hospital, joined them on the street, raising his Colonial Revival house [#35] at 405 College.

NPS Form 10-90()-a (S.-88}


Section number __ 8:::...,___ Page _4 __


Utilizing many of the stylish Romantic, Victorian and Eclectic styles, these houses are significant architecturally as well as historically, exemplifying the Bright Leaf Era Properties in Oxford, 1866-1 93 7, property type. And their early garages, detached kitchens and other scattered outbuildings fit within the Plantation and Bright Leaf Era Outbuildings in Granville County, 1746-1937, property type. (The three stylistic terms are used here, as in Virginia -and Lee McAlester's A Field Guide to American Houses, in a generalized sense to encompass-a-variety of styles from the latter third of the nineteenth and first third of the twentieth centuries.)

The non-residential properties in the ·district also exemplify the ascendancy of the town over the county. Some, like the form e r L . H . Cur r in- Am e r i can To b a c co Company P r i z e H o us e [#50] on New College Street and the former Imperial Tobacco Company buildings [#58, 58a, 58b and 58c]] at Broad and West streets, are directly related to the processing of tobacco. (Unfortunately, no old tobacco warehouses remain in the town or the district, the Banner Warehouse, the last, having been demolished in 1987.) The two-story, brick commercial buildings in the district that stretch out along Main, College, Hillsboro and Williamsboro streets from the focal point of the courthouse also speak of the vibrancy of the town during the bright leaf era. Much more impressive and stylish than any other contemporaries raised elsewhere in the county, they run the gamut from the Italianate style Hunt Building [#85] and Herndon Block Number 2 [#24] raised at 117 Williamsboro Street and the corner of Hillsboro and College streets, repsectively, to the Mod erne former C & M Has iery Mills offices [ # 119] at 11 8 Main Street. The size and style of the ban

Documents

Historic Functions categories Domestic/single dwelling · 2019. 2. 14. · (Form 1 0-900a). Type all entries. historic name other names/site number 2. street & number See C on t i